YouTube Finally Ditches Flash for HTML5

In a move that may just be the final nail in Adobe Flash Player’s coffin, the YouTube engineering team recently announced that YouTube will now stream videos using HTML5 by default for Chrome, Internet Explorer 11, Safari 8, and beta versions of Firefox.

While YouTube originally experimented with HTML5 playback four years ago, the site has always relied on Flash Player by default due to HTML5’s lack of proper support for content protection, camera and microphone access, fullscreen videos, and more. “Most critically, HTML5 lacked support for Adaptive Bitrate (ABR) that lets us show you more videos with less buffering,” says YouTube. However, HTML5 and related technologies have improved significantly in the past few years, and YouTube is finally ready to ditch Flash.

The Rise and Fall of Flash

Not too long ago, Flash was the industry standard for any multimedia on the web – movies, games, ads, everything. However, Flash was frequently criticised for causing security problems and being too resource-intensive. Furthermore, many companies and advocates of open standards didn’t like the idea of relying on one company to power all of the web’s multimedia. One of Flash’s most vocal opponents – former Apple CEO Steve Jobs, publicly criticised Flash in an open letter and explained Apple’s refusal to support Flash on iOS.

Adobe’s Flash products are 100% proprietary. They are only available from Adobe, and Adobe has sole authority as to their future enhancement, pricing, etc. While Adobe’s Flash products are widely available, this does not mean they are open, since they are controlled entirely by Adobe and available only from Adobe. By almost any definition, Flash is a closed system.

Adobe should focus more on creating great HTML5 tools for the future, and less on criticizing Apple for leaving the past behind.

With companies like Apple making a strong stance against Flash, HTML5 quickly began to gain traction. Other companies launched their own competing standards, like Microsoft’s Silverlight. Some browsers like Opera and Konqueror started blocking Flash content until the user clicked on it. HTML5’s benefits also extended beyond traditional desktop web browsers, as devices like smartphones and smart TVs became increasingly popular. The need for an open, cross-platform standard was becoming increasingly relevant, and even Adobe finally decided to shift towards HTML5 and ended support for Flash on mobile devices. Popular content providers like Netflix, Vimeo, and YouTube have all embraced HTML5, and Flash has become somewhat of a rarity online.

Does Anyone Still Use Flash?

Flash on the web is just about dead, as HTML5 can be used for the same type of rich, interactive multimedia, with much better performance and cross-platform compatibility. However, Flash is still used for many low-budget cartoons and games. Popular TV shows such as My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic and games such as VVVVVV were created in Flash. However, for the most part, Flash is on its way out. Even the latest versions of Adobe Flash Professional, the software used to create Flash content, include HTML5 tools.

A New Standards Battle

While web developers can safely use HTML5’s <video> tag and expect most browsers to understand the code, video format is still an issue. Most of the web prefers the H.264/AVC and the upcoming H.265/HEVC compression formats for encoding and distributing video. However, Google prefers its own VP9 codec, “which gives you higher quality video resolution with an average bandwidth reduction of 35 percent,” says the company. Both Chrome and Firefox support H.264 and VP9, but Safari and Internet Explorer only support H.264. For cross-browser compatibility, YouTube currently has to offer videos in both formats. Furthermore, there are still many more competing video codecs, each with its own pros and cons.

Creating an open standard that everyone wants to use is difficult. However, at least when it comes to online multimedia, it seems like most developers agree that HTML5 is the way to go.

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Important: Never invest (trade with) money you can't afford to comfortably lose. Always do your own research and due diligence before placing a trade. Read our Terms & Conditions here. Trade recommendations and analysis are written by our analysts which might have different opinions. Read my 6 Golden Steps to Financial Freedom here. Best regards, Jonas Borchgrevink.

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Important: Never invest (trade with) money you can't afford to comfortably lose. Always do your own research and due diligence before placing a trade. Read our Terms & Conditions here. Trade recommendations and analysis are written by our analysts which might have different opinions. Read my 6 Golden Steps to Financial Freedom here. Best regards, Jonas Borchgrevink.

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5 stars on average, based on 2 rated postsP. H. Madore has covered the cryptocurrency beat over the course of hundreds of articles for Hacked's sister site, CryptoCoinsNews, as well as some of her competitors. He is a major contributing developer to the Woodcoin project, and has made technical contributions on a number of other cryptocurrency projects. In spare time, he recently began a more personalized, weekly newsletter at http://ico.phm.link

The DEA Digs Your Instagram Bong Selfies

It will come as no surprise to the average Hacked reader that the government is interested in their social media activity. People talk, and a lot of times, give themselves away, even when doing things which can get them in lots of trouble. Thus the DEA, FBI & Secret Service, all of course with some help from the NSA, are quite keen to know what’s going on with social media.

Social media reflects how younger people perceive marijuana use as evidenced by various Internet searches that demonstrate minors using marijuana publicly and with impunity. Social media users of all ages, but primarily younger individuals, have posted hundreds of thousands of photos of themselves with marijuana products on various social media sites; these photos are associated with hashtags that represent marijuana (e.g. #420, #710, #BHO, #dabs). In 2014, approximately 1,200 new photos and videos were posted to Instagram® each day associated with the hashtag #BHO, a slang term for marijuana concentrates.

In November 2014, after the success of a popular online challenge, another social media challenge was issued for people to post photos and videos of themselves using marijuana in public places with the corresponding hashtag #loudchallenge. In response to the challenge, people have posted videos of themselves using marijuana in restaurants, in airports, on public transportation, and in classrooms.

The report also discusses the up-tick in explosions caused by butane extraction of THC, which then yields a form of hash popular nowadays known as “dabs.” While it’s technically never been illegal to take or post a photo of drug activity, it is not always advisable in states where the prohibition of the plant is still a reality.

But even in legal states, it can be a bad idea to post pictures of grow operations that have not followed the letter of the law, as Susan Squibb of the Cannabistcautioned Coloradans earlier this year:

So, it’s O.K. by state law to post online photos of your home grow, but [Colorado Attorney Lauren] Davis mentions there may be other risks. One factor to consider is whether the photos show off a garden compliant with local laws. Davis says, “If you are not within your legal limits (e.g. your town has a plant cap), you could be facing law enforcement scrutiny for the posting.” So make sure your garden is compliant before posting photos.

Big Brother is watching, and he’d rather you punish your liver than light up that bong. So take all the pictures of kegs and booze you want, those are considered past times. But take the wrong picture of yourself doing something with marijuana and you might find yourself in trouble, as Jeremy Clayton found out last year.

Featured image from Shutterstock.

Important: Never invest (trade with) money you can't afford to comfortably lose. Always do your own research and due diligence before placing a trade. Read our Terms & Conditions here. Trade recommendations and analysis are written by our analysts which might have different opinions. Read my 6 Golden Steps to Financial Freedom here. Best regards, Jonas Borchgrevink.

Rate this post:

Important for improving the service. Please add a comment in the comment field below explaining what you rated and why you gave it that rate. Failed Trade Recommendations should not be rated as that is considered a failure either way. (0 votes, average: 0.00 out of 5)You need to be a registered member to rate this.Loading...

5 stars on average, based on 2 rated postsP. H. Madore has covered the cryptocurrency beat over the course of hundreds of articles for Hacked's sister site, CryptoCoinsNews, as well as some of her competitors. He is a major contributing developer to the Woodcoin project, and has made technical contributions on a number of other cryptocurrency projects. In spare time, he recently began a more personalized, weekly newsletter at http://ico.phm.link

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